History Literature / Rebecca

A 1938 novel by English author Daphne du Maurier (who also wrote ''Literature/JamaicaInn'', and the story that became ''Film/TheBirds'').

* SheCleansUpNicely: The second Mrs. de Winter attempts this twice. The first time she dresses up to look like a woman on a magazine hoping to impress her husband, at which he's a little alarmed. The second time backfires horribly when she is tricked into dressing up for the costume ball in the same costume Rebecca wore at the last Manderly Masquerade. [[spoiler: She fails to realise that Maxim likes her modesty and unpretentiousness - the opposite of his much hated first wife.]]

* SuicideByCop: Rebecca manipulated Maxim into shooting her after learning she had cancer by pretending to be pregnant with another man's child. Because of the production code, this is amended in the film and musical versions to Rebecca dying in a convenient fall just as Maxim was ready and willing to pull the trigger.

* RomanticizedAbuse: (verbal) Maxim calls the heroine "fool" and "idiot" pretty frequently.

* SheCleansUpNicely: The second Mrs. de Winter attempts this twice. The first time she dresses up to look like a woman on a magazine hoping to impress her husband, at which he's a little alarmed. The second time backfires horribly when she is tricked into dressing up as Rebecca for the costume ball. [[spoiler: She fails to realise that Maxim likes her modesty and unpretentiousness - the opposite of his much gated first wife.]]

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: The widely adored Rebecca was an utterly selfish bitch who was nice to people to their faces but laughed and jeered at them behind their backs.]]

** The 2020 film has Mrs Danvers call Rebecca ''The only person I loved''.

* AccidentalMurder: In the Hitchcock film, [[spoiler:Maxim accidentally killed Rebecca; he got angry and pushed her, and she fell and struck her head.]] In the original novel, [[spoiler:he shot her, very much on purpose. She rather had it coming, to the point of taunting him into doing it.]]

* AdaptationalKarma: In the book, Mrs. Danvers escapes Manderly after she burns it to the ground. The film — by order of the Hays Code — shows her dying in the fire.

The first signs of trouble in Paradise appear when they arrive at Maxim's elegant old country estate, Manderley. The servants have grown too fond of its late mistress and receive their new one coolly. Mrs. Danvers, the current housekeeper and Rebecca's former handmaid, is especially less than thrilled with the prospect of anyone taking Rebecca's place, and has made something of a fetish of keeping her things exactly as she left them -- stationery in the desk, clothes in the cupboards -- all monogrammed with that bold, decisive initial ''R''.

While working in Monte Carlo as the companion for the wealthy Mrs. Van Hopper, our young, unnamed heroine meets the much wealthier Maxim de Winter--a moody, inscrutable widower presumed still to be in deep mourning for his late wife, the beautiful Rebecca, tragically drowned in a boating accident. Thus no one is more surprised than the shy little companion when Maxim not only seems attracted to her but impetuously proposes they wed there and then.

While working in Monte Carlo as the companion for the wealthy Mrs. Van Hopper, our young unnamed heroine meets the much wealthier Maxim de Winter: a moody, inscrutable widower presumed still to be in deep mourning for his late wife, the beautiful Rebecca, tragically drowned in a boating accident. Thus no one is more surprised than the shy little companion when Maxim not only seems attracted to her but impetuously proposes they wed there and then.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rebecca1_7041.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"You're overwrought, madam; I've opened a window for you."'']]

A 1938 novel by Daphne du Maurier (who also wrote ''Literature/JamaicaInn'', and the story that became ''Film/TheBirds'').

The first signs of trouble in Paradise appear when they arrive at his elegant old country estate, Manderley. The servants have grown too fond of its late mistress and receive their new one coolly. Mrs. Danvers, the current housekeeper and Rebecca's former handmaid, is especially less than thrilled with the prospect of anyone taking Rebecca's place, and has made something of a fetish of keeping her things exactly as she left them -- stationery in the desk, clothes in the cupboards -- all monogrammed with that bold, decisive initial ''R''.

A new adaption was filmed for Netflix, directed by Ben Wheatley (''Film/HighRise'', ''[[Film/FreeFire2017 Free Fire]]'', ''Film/KillList'') and starring Creator/LilyJames as the second Mrs. de Winter, Creator/ArmieHammer as Maxim de Winter and Creator/KristinScottThomas as Mrs. Danvers. It premiered on October 21st 2020, the day before what would have been Joan Fontaine's 103rd birthday.

* AuthorAvatar: The second Mrs. de Winter's original name being "Daphne" implies that she was supposed to be one, though there are articles suggesting that the real author insert is Rebecca (du Maurier, at around the time that she was writing ''Rebecca'', was also writing passionate, if self-loathing-filled, love letters to a straight, married woman. A lot of descriptors she uses for herself in these letters are similar to the descriptions of Rebecca in the novel). Of course, it could be both of them.

** In the 2019 one, it's not very hard to see why they cast Creator/YukoMiyamura as Mrs. Danvers: [[Franchise/NeonGenesisEvangelion It is not the first time that she has voiced a character that a loved one close to her has died, and her absence causes serious conflicts in her personality, except replace "late master" with "mother"]].

Other adaptations include a 1938 radio dramatization on Creator/OrsonWelles' ''Campbell Playhouse'', a 1939 stage play, a 1979 miniseries on Creator/TheBBC starring Creator/JeremyBrett, a 1983 opera, a 1997 miniseries on Creator/{{ITV}} starring Creator/CharlesDanc as Maxim de Winter and Creator/DianaRigg as Mrs. Danvers, a 2008 miniseries on [[Creator/{{RAI}} RAI1]] and a 2006 stage musical.

Other adaptations include a 1938 radio dramatization on Creator/OrsonWelles' ''Campbell Playhouse'', a 1939 stage play, a 1979 miniseries on Creator/TheBBC, a 1983 opera, a 1997 miniseries on Creator/{{ITV}}, a 2008 miniseries on [[Creator/{{RAI}} RAI1]] and a 2006 stage musical.

A new adaption was filmed for Netflix, directed by Ben Wheatley (''Film/HighRise'', ''[[Film/FreeFire2017 Free Fire]]'', ''Film/KillList'') and starring Creator/LilyJames as the second Mrs. de Winter and Creator/ArmieHammer as Maxim de Winter. It premiered on October 21st 2020, the day before what would have been Joan Fontaine's 103rd birthday.

A new adaption was filmed for Netflix, directed by Ben Wheatley (''Film/HighRise'', ''[[Film/FreeFire2017 Free Fire]]'', ''Film/KillList'') and starring Creator/LilyJames as the second Mrs. de Winter and Creator/ArmieHammer as Maxim de Winter. It will premiere on October 21st.

A new adaption for Netflix is in the works, to be directed by Ben Wheatley (''Film/HighRise'', ''[[Film/FreeFire2017 Free Fire]]'', ''Film/KillList'') and starring Creator/LilyJames as the second Mrs. de Winter and Creator/ArmieHammer as Maxim de Winter.

Other adaptations include a 1938 radio dramatization on Creator/OrsonWelles' ''Campbell Playhouse'', a 1939 stage play, a 1979 miniseries on Creator/TheBBC, a 1983 opera, a 1997 miniseries on Creator/{{ITV}}, and a 2006 stage musical.

...then they find the remains of a boat...

* AdaptationalKarma: In the book, Mrs Danvers escapes Manderly after she burns it to the ground. The film - by order of the Hays Code - shows her dying in the fire.

* AffectionateNickname: Both Rebecca and Favell called Mrs Danvers 'Danny' affectionately.
* AgeGapRomance: Downplayed. Maxim is a widower in his early forties when he marries the heroine, who is in her early twenties. As much as they love one another, and even without the spectre of Rebecca haunting them, there is a lot of insecurity on both sides due to the age gap: Maxim occasionally wonders whether he is too old to relate to her, and if she would have been better off with someone her age, while the heroine is resentful of being treated like a child, and feels inferior to Maxim due to her relative youth and naiveté.
* AlasPoorVillain: Despite her fear of and anger towards Mrs. Danvers, the narrator sympathises with her bitter recollection of the night Rebecca died: Danvers, who had been away for most of the day, feared something was deathly wrong, and after a sleepless night of paranoia and premonition, rushed alone through Manderley's woods in the dead of night to find and help her beloved mistress, but was far too late. As the truth begins to come out, Danvers grows more and more emotional, gradually viewed less as a tyrant and more as a grieving old woman, who will never forgive herself for what she sees as her own failure. [[spoiler:Nor, of course, does she forgive Maxim when she learns the truth...]]

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: Maxim put up with Rebecca for ten years before killing her, because she did wonders for Manderley, and divorcing her would have destroyed Manderley and him. A year after her passing, Manderley is burnt to the ground by Mrs Danvers, making all of Maxim's hardships and humiliations meaningless.]]

* AlphaBitch:
** Alice, one of the maids, who sneers at the narrator's modest and plain underwear fits better.
** [[spoiler: Rebecca to the people she was openly nasty to.]]

** Also, Mr Frith the butler and Robert the footman seem pretty close to each other and at one point Favell mocks Robert about his love life in front of the narrator.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Manderley is burnt to the ground by Mrs Danvers, in a sense ensuring Rebecca has one last laugh over Maxim from beyond the grave. But having come clean with each other regarding Rebecca, the framing device suggests that Maxim and the heroine are, if not happy together, then at least content, having overcome Rebecca's shadow and earned something of a happy ending.]]

* BrickJoke: During one of their early dates, the heroine confesses that she wishes she were thirty-six years old, wearing black satin and white pearls. Maxim makes her promise never to wear pearls or black satin. Later she attempts BeautifulAllAlong - in a black dress with white pearls. Maxim is understandably put-off.

* CanNotSpitItOut: [[spoiler:The heroine is convinced that she's a complete failure compared to Rebecca, her husband's first (dead) wife, until she finds out that Rebecca was evil and the husband never loved her and murdered her. Which cheers her up immensely.]]

** Roses for the new Mrs de Winter.

* FourthDateMarriage: Maxim gets to know the female protagonist during his holidays in Monte Carlo. They get marries then and there.

** The narrator (Phlegmatic), Maxim (Melancholic), Mrs Danvers (Choleric), Rebecca (Sanguine).
*** Alternatively Favell also counts as sanguine.
* GenreBlind: Mrs Danvers is suddenly being nice to the second Mrs de Winter? Nope, don't find anything suspicious about her behaviour and do as she asks.
* GentlemanSnarker: Maxim gets decidedly snarky at the inquest. Not the cleverest tack to take when the police are suggesting you killed your wife...
* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: [[spoiler:The titular Rebecca was, rather than the lovely and kind-hearted perfect wife her successor assumed her to be, a lying, manipulative, cruel sociopath who cheated on her husband Maxim with a series of lovers - and was not even really in love with them either. Maxim, meanwhile, is shown putting up with this until Rebecca actually ''intentionally provokes him into shooting her'' (because she has cancer and no way of treating it, and is apparently too afraid of committing actual suicide; as well as the fact that this makes him a murderer: her ultimate attack on him). She is, in fact, so awful that the heroine, Maxim's second wife, is ''glad'' he shot Rebecca]]. We also find out that [[spoiler:Rebecca seduced Giles, Maxim's brother-in-law. Giles' wife (Maxim's sister) Beatrice either knows or strongly suspects this and avoids further visits with her brother for that reason. She and Giles still seem to get along well though, and the second wife at one point feels inferior because the two have a "good marriage".]]

** Mrs Van Hopper, who passes over into RichBitch territory.

* HaughtyHelp: Mrs Danvers the housekeeper is contemptuous of her employer's new wife, trying to bully and belittle her. Mrs Danvers had a very close attachment to the previous lady of the house, the titular Rebecca, and does not believe that the replacement is worthy of Rebecca's place.
* HollywoodDarkness: The scene when Maxim and Frank return from London in their car at night. You can clearly see the shadows of the trees on the ground.

* IntimateHairBrushing: Mrs Danvers talks lovingly of brushing Rebecca's hair every night before bed. She even has her hairbrush left exactly as it was when she was alive.

* LiteraryNecrophilia: The book got a sequel in Susan Hill's ''Mrs. De Winter'', which in its turn was followed by Sally Beauman's ''Rebecca's Tale'', which veers into {{Prequel}} territory in part of its narrative.

* NoNameGiven: The second Mrs. de Winter. She mentions that her name is unusual, and people rarely spell it correctly, but doesn't tell what it is. In earlier drafts of the novel, her name was [[AuthorAvatar Daphne]]. A bit unusual, and, back in the days before ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'', easy to misspell. In TheMusical, she's just know as "Ich" ("I").
%%* NothingIsScarier

* SugaryMalice: Seems to be Jack Favell's main business after blackmail. The second Mrs Dr Winter soon dislikes him due to his constant insinuations.

* SuicideDare: The CreepyHousekeeper Mrs Danvers very seriously encourages the second Mrs de Winter to commit suicide. That was because she was passionately devoted to the ''first'' Mrs de Winter and felt the successor was taking her place. She is not impolite or emotional when she does it, which makes it all the more scary.

While working in Monte Carlo as the companion for the wealthy Mrs. Van Hopper, our young unnamed heroine meets the much wealthier Maxim de Winter: a moody, inscrutable widower presumed still to be in deep mourning for his late wife, the beautiful Rebecca, tragically drowned in a boating accident. Thus no one is more surprised than the shy, gauche little companion when Maxim not only seems attracted to her but impetuously proposes they wed there and then.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Seems to be Jack Favell's main business after blackmail. It's one of the things the narrator dislikes about him.

* SheCleansUpNicely: The second Mrs. de Winter attempts this twice. The first time she dresses up to look like a woman on a magazine hoping to impress her husband, at which he's a little alarmed. The second time backfires horribly when she is tricked into dressing up as Rebecca for the costume ball.

* SympatheticMurderBackstory: Maxim murdered Rebecca. But she was a horrible person, and she manipulated him into doing it.

* ActorAllusion:
** In the 2019 Japanese dub, it's not very hard to see why they cast Creator/YukoMiyamura as Mrs. Danvers: [[Franchise/NeonGenesisEvangelion It is not the first time that she has voiced a character that a loved one close to her has died, and her absence causes serious conflicts in her personality, except replace "late master" with "mother"]].
** Likewise from the same dub, this is not the first time we hear Creator/ShinichiroMiki (Maxim de Winter) [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 has voiced troubled men]] [[Anime/VisionOfEscaflowne who has lost a loved one at some point of their lives]].